IAEA warning on 'dirty' weapons

12:01AM GMT 12 Mar 2003

The United Nations nuclear watchdog yesterday said that "dirty bombs", in which radioactive material is packed around conventional explosives, pose a greater threat than ever in the hands of suicide attackers.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told a conference in Vienna: "Given the apparent readiness of terrorists to disregard their own safety, the personal danger from handling powerful radioactive sources can no longer be seen as an effective deterrent.

"Much remains to be done to improve the security of radioactive sources worldwide."

While dirty bombs are much less lethal than atomic weapons, they require less nuclear material and can inflict widespread disruption for relatively little cost.